On 14 July Professor Thomas removed his post citing the Seoul Times, after I wrote to him pointing out that the baby herbal soup meme is a hoax.

I’d like to thank Professor Thomas for acting promptly on this matter.

EM
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I really thought that the whole “baby herbal soup” hoax had been put to death. I haven’t had to come back to this racist Internet meme for sometime, but unfortunately, I have discovered a rather alarming version of the story being repeated and used by a professor of philosophy from a respected American university.

Yes, that’s right, a professor of philosophy is relying on the fake and highly racist story that Chinese people eat aborted fetuses to make an argument about the morality of abortion.

Professor Laurence Thomas has linked to the discredited Seoul Times article — only one version of the so-called “news” report — in order to attack what he dismissively describes as the “liberal” view of abortion.

Here’s just a small sample from this 2009 blog post:

Professor Laurence Thomas, Syracuse University

Animal flesh is eaten all the time; and since the human fetus is claimed by liberals not to be a person, then why cannot it not be eaten as a form of animal flesh? My raising this question is not an indication of my having become a morally demented individual.

Rather, I have raised the question because precisely what has been reported in the Seoul Times (9 June 2009) is that in China the human fetus is being served as a form of nourishment. The article claims that in China baby herbal soup is held to “increase overall health and stamina and the power of sexual performance in particular”.

Now, the observation that I wish to make is the liberals on abortion are in no position to criticize the practice in China of consuming the human fetus for food. Why? Because liberals on abortion insist that the fetus does not constitute a human being, and so has no moral standing at all as a human being. By this line of reasoning, eating a human fetus can be no more morally objectionable than eating dog or snake or horse or snails.

Professor Thomas has included one of the notorious images that often accompany the retelling of the hoax. I have pointed out before that these images are the work of Chinese performance artist Zhu Yu and are not evidence that Chinese people prepare and consume “baby herbal soup”.

I have posted a full list or URLs to previous Ethical Martini posts on this topic, you can read all about it there.

I have written to Professor Thomas asking that he either take down the post, or at least edit it to acknowledge that the Seoul Times story and other so-called “evidence” of the practice of eating babies are false and malicious.

If you visit the Moral Health blog where Professor Thomas writes his argument you will instantly see why it is important that this hoax be exposed at every opportunity. Idiots and racists of low intelligence (two overlapping but separate groups of dribblejaws and willful fools) jump on these expressions of the hoax to spout all kinds of filth about Chinese people.

Dear Professor Thomas,I am writing in relation to a post you wrote on a blog called Moral Health

Real Baby Soup in China: Extending the Liberal View on Abortion?

The post uses an article from the Seoul Times as the basis for a long treatise on abortion and the “eating” of a human fetus.While I have no quibble with you having strong views about abortion — indeed I hold similarly strong views myself on abortion and a number of topics — I do take issue with you using as your main source material a purported news article from an online source that has little or no credibility.

Your article generated a lot of responses and continues to garner hits and views. Indeed I was drawn to your post by a ping back to my own blog.I believe that you should take down this post, or at least make several large edits to clarify the real situation.The “baby herbal soup” meme is an internet hoax and as a professor of philosophy, I am sure you would not want to base an argument on a false premise.

It would be helpful if you, as a respected academic, would join me in condemning this cruel hoax and you can start by examining the post you wrote and, as I suggest, take it down or edit it to acknowledge the hoax.

I hope you can find the time to respond to me, unlike the editors of the Seoul Times whose only response when I wrote to them was abuse.

Best wishesMartin

I await Professor Thomas’ response. If you wish to join my call for Professor Thomas to take down or amend this blog post, you can contact him yourself via the following links:

Attention: EM’s explanation for reposting this:

It seems that some people cannot accept that this so-called news ‘story’ is a steaming bowl of racist crap, not real babies in soup.
I am always gob-smacked when the traffic to my ‘herbal soup’ thread jumps.
In the last couple of days I have tracked this back to Singapore.
It surfaces regularly. Same photos from Zhu Yu and same blood libel jibber jabber.
Even when one sane soul joins the thread and points out that the whole thing is fake some dribblejaws continue to want to believe it.

Update: 10pm Melbourne time:

I left a comment on the Singapore site of Breathing Asia, but they were still in moderation some 18 hours later.

I am beyond disgusted and being Chinese, I still need to say this, what is wrong with people in China? WHy would you even come up with this? Why are people drinking this? Why are people proud to be able to purchase this? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???!!!

“The Baby Soup is called in the local jargon ‘Spare Rib Soup’ and is not available on a daily basis. The reporter who originally wrote the article in Chinese said that he had to wait a couple of weeks until a baby was available. A couple who had two daughters already had a third pregnancy which they aborted when they found out at 5 months it was again a girl. So they contacted the restaurant and sold their aborted daughter. Babies which are close to term (i.e. 9 months) cost 2,000 yuan (about US$ 290) The ones that are aborted earlier only…

I continue to be amazed and disgusted that the baby herbal soup hoax continues to circulate on the interwebs, but I am also heartened by the fact that many people intervene in chat rooms and discussion boards where this incoherent gibberish is regularly upchucked onto the screen.

I came across one nice attempt to refute the baby herbal soup hoax on an Indonsian site Another Paths, written by a young Indonesian coast guard clerk, Asa S.

I don’t speak bahasa, so I got Google to machinetranslate the piece. I have not edited the transcript. If anyone can provide a more accurate translation, I’ll be greatful.

Fetal Soup in China: Hoax

BBC News displays news about the fetus or Healty Soup Soup which was aired on British television in 2003 in Columns Entertainment. Although many know the lie of this news, but I still receive fuel from a handful of broadcast groups who do not know to spread the image Fetus Soup images via BlackBerry Messenger. Is that right?

This shocking news loaded semi-official daily of The Seoul Times, see the following picture.

Not only Muslims, a Christian forum also had to believe, but this trit eventually removed after receiving denials from the readers. The most severe occurred in Scotland, the FBI and Scotland Yard (Metropolitan Police Service Centre) participate so that they do follow-up provoked a deeper investigation in 2001. Even The Guardian also had to load it in 2002.

Then if the news is true? of course not! try reading the last article from the BBC following. (Open in new tab).

News from the BBC on January 3, 2003 over the name of a contemporary Chinese artist named Zhu Yu. And it is clear that the photos that circulated only the result of Zhu Yu’s artwork is on showcase at the Third Shanghai Biennale in Shanghai China in 2000 under the theme “Fuck Off Exhibition”. The work of Zhu Yu’s controversy titled “Eating People”.

The exhibition which was held on November 6, 2000 attended by 67 participants, half (31) came from outside China, such as Matthew Barney (USA), William Kentridge (South Africa), Emily Kane Kngwarreya (Australia), Sarkis (Turkey), Anish Kapoor ( India / UK), Katsura Funakoshi (Japan), and Heri Dono (Indonesia), and so on.

Followed also by artists from China who lived around the world, such as Cai Guo-Qiang (USA), Huang, Yong-Ping (France), and Yan, Pei-Ming (France), etc. Compared with the previous Biennale, an art form far more varied, including paintings, multi-media, installations, video art, and conceptual art, etc. In addition, there are two-day international symposium held at the Museum. Many art critics, historians, and curators from around the world participated. Symposium theme is Cultural Fusion. (Absoluteart)

A rare image of Zhu Yu

Zhu Yu graduated from High School Affiliated Academy Art Center in Chengdu in 1991. He was born the same city in 1970. After the success of Eating People, in the following years many artists makes the creation of dramatic photos that seemed to justify the Fetus Soup. Actually there are other artists who showcase the work entitled Human disgusting Oil in the same year, but seems less interested media to disseminate it.

Peng Yu Human Oil

Watch videos of contemporary Chinese art is part 1,2,3 if still not believe.

Every now and again EM gets over run with people being directed to my various posts on the so-called Chinese Baby Herbal Soup story.

I have repeatedlypointedout that this is a hoax that began circulating a few years ago following a confronting and controversial performance art piece by a Chinese dissident artist Zhu Yu. But the set of images taken of this exhibition – in which Zhu does appear to cook and eat a newborn, or fetus-like human form – continuously bounces from bulletin board to chat room where the same old tired, racist cliches are trotted out until some more rational member of that forum kindly links to one of my denunciations of the hoax.

But it shows you how wide and shallow most of the internet pool actually is that the same junk-information and same slimy muck rises to the surface in different areas at different times. Such as this one, this week, from Gaijin Pot; a forum ostensibly about expat life in Japan.

It's a hoax; not recent news from China

Another one popped up too at Rekords Rekords. Both of these sites are linking to the Seoul Times piece I mentioned in a blog several months ago. I wrote to the editor of the Seoul Times asking her/him to take down this offensive rubbish. I didn’t ever get a reply. The Seoul Times is not a credible news outlet, but it does have a masthead and therefore can very easily mislead the dribblejaws.

It is irresponsible for anyone to continue recirculating this hoax and I am grateful to all the sensible folk who brave the stupidity of these threads and link to my posts on this. Keep it up, the world needs you to maintain your vigilance against ignorance and prejudice.

[EM’s long-promised update to this post. I did have some correspondence from people allegedly associated with Seoul Times (see below), but it was inconsequential and I’d forgotten about my promise to publish any reply. So if that person, or anyone else from ST wants to respond, send something.

I’ve just come across another sick chatroom thread about the perennial ‘baby herbal soup’ hoax photographs that continue to circulate and to get more and more graphic. This is a new thread, it only went up on 20 October 2009.

That this happens is not really surprising, but the ignorant and racist comments that these posts generate is the really shocking aspect of this story.

The Furaffinity site - click to check PGA warning

This site claims to have the story from an online news source The Seoul Times and sure enough, the story is there, complete with all the nasty fake photos.

click to read Seoul Times 'baby herbal soup' story PGA

It’s one thing for this viral meme to circulate in chatrooms where ignorance and prejudice seem to rule, but for a news site to run it as a straight news piece is pretty disgusting.

It’s another argument in favour of having some form of trained cadre who can verify and check and against the idea that somehow the “bottom up” Internet is going to improve on the mainstream media. It purports to be a letter to the editor and it’s dated 30 September 2008, so now it’s recirculating thanks to Fur Affinity.

I have contacted the Seoul Times editor asking her/him to remove this piece, or at least to acknowledge that it is more than likely a hoax.

I encourage you to do the same.

You can simply copy and paste this text into your email browser. The address is seoultimes@gmail.com

Dear editor, I was shocked to see that you are running the Chinese baby soup story as if it were real and verified.

This is an internet hoax and you have been fooled into running this story which feeds prejudice and racism against Chinese people.

My original post on this cruel and quite disgusting email hoax is currently sitting fourth on my top posts list. I’m actually quite stunned that the hoax is still in circulation and that someone (or someones) has gone to a lot of trouble to perpetuate it through a variety of websites.